Teaching Unknown
by Soulofthepast
Summary: How could she teach what she couldn't understand? How is she to take on an apprentice when she is unable to fathom the power within? She never understood the Sailor Senshi, not one bit...and even so, something was there. What was it? She hadn't a clue.


A/N: I know I've been on an odd pairing tangent recently with Ami/Yaten. Last night I posted two one shot stories on them, ironically enough, once I did that I got the itching to configure odd but alluring pairings for the other two lights and this one shot is a result of one of the pairing ideas. This one is going to be Rei/Taiki so I hope you enjoy. Honestly, I see very little of this pairing in English. Again, just like with Ami/Yaten I'm going to use personality points that aren't used often enough in my personal opinion. I hope you enjoy!

I'm keeping Taiki female, as she was intended when regarding the Manga. While it is true that I personally believe Taiki does will as a male in the Anime (I also feel Taiki is the only one able to pull of being a male directly since Seiya comes off far too over the time to actually be a man. Far too much like Haruka...nope, just doesn't work for me.) Many fan's don't agree with it and prefer that they stay women seeing as that was how they were supposed to be. If I decide to do another fiction with the pairing, then I may use her as in the Anime light, but only if I get bored. Anyway, on with the fiction. Only a one shot.

I don't own Sailor Moon.

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Collage entrance exams, what a pain in the butt that they were. It wasn't like she had better things to do. Now that she was on earth yet again, she found the idle times quite nice. Vacation was something Taiki could say she honestly didn't get enough of. While her fellow comrades were busy training some new recruits, she escaped back to earth for some good ole rest and relaxation. Not that she wasn't happy about it, but it did mean she had to get a job, and what better way than to first learn all one could? "Please go away." It had all gone well until she came into contact from an annoying Sailor Senshi from her past, not that she really cared one way or the other. It was just annoying.

"Come on...just a little bit of ice cream at the parlor. Usagi would love to see you. Not to mention Ami missed you, I'm sure." Taiki rolled her eyes. Rei really never knew when to let up. "I'm telling you, you'll love it. We could go back to my place after. That's where we all normally go anyway, and you'd be welcome with open arms."

"Rei, please get out of the way of the lamp." The off handed order almost monotone in reply. "I'm afraid I must decline today, this book won't read itself."  
"But you've just gotten back. Didn't you come for a visit?" The girl of raven tresses took a seat. The coffee shop was rather quiet this late in the afternoon.  
"Indeed I did." Again, Taiki didn't allow her eyes to leave the book. "However, that does not include bantering aimlessly."  
"Do you need to always be such a total stiff?" Lavender eyes hardened as she tore the book away from the woman reading it, casting it aside.

Taking a very measured sip of coffee, brown eyes studied Rei carefully. "Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps, by some measure of logic, that it is not I who acts stiff, but rather it is you who acts uncouth?" The soft clink of the delicate cup upon the saucer punctuated her words. "Do not misunderstand me. I'm not here simply for entertainment, nor am I here for mitigating circumstances beyond normal control like last time. Instead, I'm here spending my time away from my post, as is customary back home. Unlike you, our place of residence doesn't allow for fun and games, although after coming into contact with a person like Seiya, I can see why you'd likely assume it normality."

"...It's nice to see you haven't changed at all." Rei deadpanned. Taiki was like this by nature, but honestly, it floored her. "Didn't you think we'd find out that you were here? Eventually you'll have to say hello to the others. They missed you guys, a lot. Usagi especially. After all we went through, the least you could do was be friendly. But no, you'd rather just look at that stupid book all day long, never mind the fact you had friends that worried about you, wondering how things have been after all this time, hoping and prying everything was going better. Let me guess, that never passed your mind, did it?"

"If you'll excuse me, I think I shall take my leave. Rei, it was a pleasure speaking with you. I assure you, I'll meet with your wonderful princess later. For now though, I must be going." Taiki stood pulling a wad of money from her suit along with a white piece of thin cardboard. "This is where I'm staying for the time being. Feel free to tell everyone else." After placing a few larger bills down, clearly over paying and over tipping, she placed the rest back into her pocket and kept walking. Her hair was still long, deep chestnut swaying side to side with each forward step. Her body tall and slender, her suit although made for a man fit her nicely, as expected. She stopped, checking her watch before heading out the door.

Rei sighed at that while sitting at the table. Then she realized the book had been left behind. She cursed under her breath, picking it up and walking out the door. She followed Taiki down the road, the tall girl still within sight. "Wait up!" Rei yelled as she raced across the sidewalk. Thankfully Taiki heard her, stopping to wait. "You forgot this." Rei explained, handing the taller girl the thick tome. The leather bound cover was in a different language entirely. "What is that thing about anyway?"

"Something from home actually." Taiki explained, a soft smile on her face. "However, you didn't need to rush. It seems you are unable to understand a plan when you see one."  
"A plan?" That caught Rei off guard completely.  
"Yes, a plan." Taiki allowed a small chuckle from her lips, this girl could be very dense when she wanted to be. "You came though, so all is not lost."  
"Wait, hold up." Rei was incredulous. "What do you mean all is not lost? You almost lost that book!"

"I may be a woman Rei, but on earth I still gallivant around as the male I'm preconceived to be. After all, I was a pop idol at one time. It would seem odd if I had randomly become a woman without notice. I would rather the press leave me be if at all possible. I don't wish any further harassment from them. However, understanding this, I could not escort you, a maiden of a shrine into my personal hotel room. It would look rather pretentious, wouldn't you agree?" The glimmer of amusement faded almost as quickly as it had surfaced, the cool stoic mask forming once again. Taiki knew that look well, calmly biding her time had always been a skill she knew how to use. "Still, I should not speak in public with you. The tabloids may be on the lookout, I wish not to cause undue attention considering the fact I've been missing for almost two years."

"Is that why you hadn't told us you were coming?" Rei wondered that. Setsuna wasn't normally a blabber mouth, but she had been the one who told Minako, who in turn told Usagi, it had been a downward spiral from there. Setsuna would have had to know by now telling Minako anything turned into a rumor mill. It had been calculated, no doubts there.

"No. that is not why." Taiki didn't know why she was bothering with this game again. It was nonsensical at best, an annoyance at worst. Even so, there had once been a time she argued over these same basic logic's, the same emotional torrent. Defying all, and doing what they thought was right. That was the Sailor Senshi. "I have no wish to relive my past. Keep it at that."

"Then, Taiki...why did you come?" It seemed caring, an unusual thing for Rei to feel. She acted on that care, reacted to the aloof woman before her. The one that gave even Ami a run for her money. Both women were cold creatures on occasion and Yet...Ami was softer, more gentle. She was kind and caring. This starlight wasn't any of that. Part of Rei wondered if this was the same woman she fought alongside, or if the woman had changed, darkened, during her time away. Rei wasn't very attached to Taiki, so, she couldn't be sure. "Why did you come back if it wasn't for us?"

"I have other obligations in my life, Usagi isn't one of them." Taiki felt remorse for saying that, but hadn't to bothered to show such emotion outwardly. "I owe her my profound gratitude, and all of you I have earned my unwavering trust and my kindness. Ami, she deserves an apology for being correct about dreams and her values on love. Aside from that, I've nothing more I can offer any of you. Unlike Seiya, I've no need to find myself breaking my own heart. Yaten can be a shrew, but there was something she saw in all of you...something deeper than anything I ever found. Before I can take on an apprentice Rei, I must first find myself. It is the wish of the one I serve. I cannot teach what I do not know, and while my comrades brought home valuable lessons they shall never forget, I myself have learned nothing."

Rei frowned at that. As Taiki continued, her voice become colder, more angry, more monotone. "How can I teach an apprentice when I myself understand very little of the words you all spoke? How can I show them these things? The powers that made you so strong was not your attacks, but rather it was Usagi's love. We shot vengeance in battle, and we all fell, if it had not been for Usagi, your wonderful princess, surely everything would have ended in tragic doom. Seiya has become a stronger warrior fighting for the embodiment of love. Yaten has learned compassion she hadn't had before. However I, Sailor Star Maker have learned nothing I could possibly teach a child, or even an adult for that matter."

"I think I understand what you mean." Rei knew the complexities of the Senshi, but beyond that she knew what it was like to feel alone. "I'm training to become a woman of the cloth, as you say. However, that doesn't mean I follow all of the rules the nuns tell me I must. I think...Usagi changed that in me." She fidgeted then for only a moment, trying to think of what to say, and how to say it. "I remember when I wanted to be the leader. That was before I knew she was our princess, but, I realized over time that Usagi...she wasn't our leader at all, and she's really only our princess by default. I'm not only her friend or her Senshi either. I love her like a sister, and...no matter who tells me it's wrong, I would shed blood on the battle field for her, even if according to the bible, and what it means to serve in a shrine that killing is wrong."

It was Taiki's turn to be lost in those words. Things of savage nature that neither of them ever truly wanted to voice aloud. "But Usagi...she isn't like me. She gives her life for others in an instant without thinking. Unlike me, a person who would take a life, thinking that one life for another is equality by defense...she knows that it doesn't work that way. She would still give hers up for anyone. If she knew they deserved a chance, any chance at all she would without wavering. She fights with love, not only in the name of the word, but actually with the value in and of itself. Someone like us could never teach that value. You and I could never offer a hand to an enemy and save them from every inner demon, every single mistake. It would be nearly impossible."

"I do not understand what love is." Taiki agreed slowly, her eyes betrayed her though. Those brown eyes not exactly hiding the emotions within. "I know the word, surely I am not daft. I merely fail in understanding the full meaning. None of us really understood it to begin with. Emotions are not my capacity. I'm the logical one, the person who should know all I can and calculate the best viable solution. Even so, your Ami could do the same thing. She understood more than I ever could, that understanding included love."

"I think you have the capacity." Rei fought that. "Anyone in this world can learn what love is. You could too, if you wanted."  
"I'd highly doubt it." She scoffed then. The conversation became a bother once again. "I am engrossed though. I would assume you have proof for such a statement?"  
"In fact I do." Rei nodded, stepping closer.  
"Well, what may I ask is it?" A raised eyebrow in suspicion didn't do anything to help Rei's resolve.

Instead she leaned up, a short peck on the lips her only answer. Then she backed away, a blush on her face as lavender eyes searched for something, anything within her taller companion. She found it in the confusion filled stare. One not completely appalled, nor was she raging. Not exactly impassioned, but clearly concerned. It meant something dormant was there, shrouded in mystery thought it may have been. If it was love remained to be seen, but Rei could tell something was there, and that one thing was a catalyst for growth.

Emotions weren't always understood, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Taiki sung about these feeling all the time, played wonderful music reflecting them, surely she knew what it was...but, even if she didn't, the power was hidden deeply within her. All it would take is someone, anyone, willing to pull it out from the depths of her soul. Rei knew at the very least that much was true. "You felt something. Your eyes say more than you want to tell, but something was there."

End-

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Yes, so as I said, the odd pairing itch has bitten me and I'm trying new things. I hope you liked it, I know I had fun doing it. Please leave a review.


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